Cake Architecture draws on Bauhaus principles for Hoxton bar
CategoriesInterior Design

Cake Architecture draws on Bauhaus principles for Hoxton bar

Cake Architecture has renovated A Bar with Shapes for a Name, an east London cocktail bar featuring “utilitarian” interiors.

A Bar with Shapes for a Name owes its title to the yellow triangle, red square and blue circle that are emblazoned on its facade in a nod to the primary colours and understated geometry commonly associated with the Bauhaus.

Tall tubular chairs at A Bar with Shapes for a Name by Cake ArchitectureTall tubular chairs at A Bar with Shapes for a Name by Cake Architecture
Tall tubular chairs feature on the ground floor

When creating the bar’s minimalist interiors, Dalston-based Cake Architecture took cues from the influential German art and design school that was established in 1919 and advocated for an emphasis on functionality, among other similar principles.

Located at 232 Kingsland Road in Hoxton, the cocktail bar was renovated by the studio to serve as a multipurpose venue.

Reddish plywood barReddish plywood bar
Cake Architecture created a smooth ground-floor bar from reddish plywood

Cake Architecture doubled the bar’s capacity by adding a basement, which acts as a “kitchen-bar” room, and refurbished the ground floor’s existing seating area as well as a classroom-style space that offers a location for rotating events or workshops.

“These spaces have specific functional requirements and we selected colours and materials to suit,” studio director Hugh Scott Moncrieff told Dezeen.

Rectilinear light installation within bar by Cake ArchitectureRectilinear light installation within bar by Cake Architecture
It was positioned opposite a rectilinear light installation

Upon entering the bar, visitors are greeted by the main seating area or “showroom”, which was designed to be warm and inviting.

Tall tubular chairs finished with neutral rattan were positioned around chunky geometric tables made from birch ply stained to a rich, reddish-brown hue.

Glass-topped central table in the basementGlass-topped central table in the basement
The renovation included the addition of a new basement

The team also used the same timber to create the space’s curving bar, which is illuminated by a squat, cordless table lamp by lighting brand Flos.

Opposite the bar, a glowing rectilinear light installation by photographer Steve Braiden was fitted to the wall underneath bench-style seating reminiscent of early Bauhaus furniture designs.

Close-up of the steel, glass-topped tableClose-up of the steel, glass-topped table
A steel, glass-topped table sets an industrial tone

“We looked in particular at projects by the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius,” reflected Scott Moncrieff.

“Gropius is a master of this elegant zoning through the application of colour and form,” he added.

Steel-framed tables in the classroomSteel-framed tables in the classroom
The “classroom” includes steel-framed tables

Downstairs, the low-lit basement was created to house additional seating as well as “all of the crazy machinery they use to prepare the drinks,” the designer said.

The basement is characterised by a bespoke central table by Cake Architecture and furniture designer Eddie Olin.

Sculptural, colourful lampSculptural, colourful lamp
Red, yellow and blue accents define a sculptural lamp

Consisting of a steel frame that “floats” over a central leg, the table was topped with a glass surface and its base was clad in phenolic-coated plywood to match the floor and walls.

“This new basement is predominantly a production space – so the palette reflects this with hardwearing, utilitarian and industrial materials,” said Scott Moncrieff.

A thick, felt curtain in ultramarine adds a pop of colour to the otherwise pared-back space.

With its pale blue walls and Valchromat-topped, steel-framed tables, the ground-floor “classroom” pays homage to the Bauhaus as an educational institution.

Tall blackboard in the classroomTall blackboard in the classroom
A tall blackboard provides space to learn in the classroom

Brighter blue vinyl covers the floors while a sculptural lamp featuring red, yellow and blue circles echoes the bar’s logo.

A tall blackboard and overhead strip lighting add to the classroom feel of the space, which is used for various group events.

Illuminated bathroom sinkIlluminated bathroom sink
Thin vertical lights frame the bathroom sink

Cake Architecture worked closely with the bar’s founders Remy Savage and Paul Lougrat when creating the interiors, which were primarily informed by the duo’s way of working.

“The team has a conceptually driven ethos drawn from the theory and practice of Bauhaus embedded in everything they are doing. We found that incredibly exciting,” explained Scott Moncrieff.

Sconce lighting on the wallSconce lighting on the wall
A Bar with Shapes for a Name is located on London’s Kingsland Road

“The Bauhaus phrase ‘party, work, play’ was pertinent to some early ideas and this carried through all our design discussions,” noted the designer.

“The space enables these three things. Separately as individual functions and simultaneously as a representation of the overall atmosphere of a bar!”

Cake Architecture previously worked with interior designer Max Radford to create a curtain-wrapped speakeasy in London’s Soho. The studio also designed a workspace for London agency Ask Us For Ideas in the same part of the city.

The photography is by Felix Speller



Reference

Dezeen Awards 2023 winners announced at ceremony in London
CategoriesArchitecture

Dezeen Awards 2023 winners announced at ceremony in London

All 50 Dezeen Awards 2023 winners have been announced at this evening’s ceremony in central London.

The winners were revealed at a party at Shoreditch Electric Light Station attended by shortlisted studios along with Dezeen Awards judges past and present including Nelly Ben Hayoun, Omar Gandhi, Patricia Urquiola, Sumayya Vally and LionHeart.

All Dezeen Awards 2023 winners revealed

The winning projects have been selected from more than 4,800 entries from 94 countries. The 39 project category winners were shortlisted for the architecture, interiors, design and sustainability project of the year awards. These projects went head to head to win the overall project of the year awards.

The six Designers of the Year and the inaugural Bentley Lighthouse Award winner were also announced at the ceremony.

View the winners on the Dezeen Awards website or read below:


Simba Vision Montessori School
Simba Vision Montessori School in Tanzania was named architecture project of the year. Photo by Nadia Christ

Architecture

Simba Vision Montessori School by Architectural Pioneering Consultants won the prestigious architecture project of the year award, sponsored by Material Bank. It was also named education project of the year.

The judges said: “This exemplary building manages to do the most with the least. A truly sustainable project with a very limited budget, the building provides a much-needed educational space for the local community that is responsive to people, place and purpose.”

The winning Montessori school with tactile qualities was up against projects that included a linear park with an elevated walkway in Mexico City, a copper-clad shelter constructed from bamboo in Bali and a timber-lined community centre made from salvaged local wood in east London.

Read more about Simba Vision Montessori School and the architecture winners ›


Xokol by Ruben Valdez
A restaurant in a former mechanic’s workshop in Guadalajara won interior project of the year. Photo by Gillian Garcia

Interiors

Restaurant Xokol in Guadalajara by studios Ruben Valdez Practice and ODAmx was named interior project of the year, sponsored by Moroso. It also won restaurant and bar interior of the year.

“Xokol understands the place where it lives and the importance of designing in a specific way for a specific location,” commended the judges. “The result of this understanding is deep and poetic.”

A palazzo with circular elements in Rome, a retail space defined by curved resin walls in the Art Gallery of New South Wales and an exhibition with shrink-wrapped blocks as scenography in Hanover were a few of the projects competing with the Mexican cross-cultural dining space.

Read more about Xokol and the interiors winners ›


CIONIC FUSEPROJECT
Design project of the year was awarded to designer Yves Behar for his bionic leg wrap

Design

The Cionic Neural Sleeve by Yves Behar’s Fuseproject and neuro tech startup Cionic was crowned design project of the year, sponsored by Solus Ceramics and Mirage Spa. It was also awarded product design (health and wellbeing) project of the year.

“For the millions of people suffering from muscular degenerative diseases or injury, this product has the greatest potential to improve the user’s ability to walk and therefore their quality of life,” said the master jury.

Projects vying with the winning bionic leg wrap included sunglasses that have adaptive focus lenses, a climate-change calculator that makes use of real-world data and a minimalist log-like perch designed for active waiting.

Read more about Cionic Neural Sleeve and the design winners ›


Exterior of Phase 2 of Park Hill estate in Sheffield
The latest phase of the redevelopment of Park Hill estate in Sheffield was crowned sustainable project of the year

Sustainability

London architecture studio Mikhail Riches won sustainable project of the year, sponsored by Brookfield Properties. Park Hill Phase 2 was also named sustainable renovation of the year.

The judges said: “Mikhail Riches has taken the ruin of a concrete post-war mass housing project, which was an iconic building of its time, and shown how to care for its legacy while giving it dignity.”

Other contenders for sustainability project of the year included an affordable housing block with pigmented precast concrete panels, a whiskey bar decked with oak from discarded distillery barrels and a chipless, paper-only version of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag.

Read more about Park Hill Phase 2 and the sustainability winners ›


Stormwater Pond at Exercisfältet by White Arkitekter
Photo by Måns Berg

Designers of the Year

Scandinavian practice White Arkitekter took home the architect of the year award and Sumayya Vally of Counterspace Studio was named emerging architect of the year.

Interior designer of the year was awarded to Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola and emerging interior designer of the year was awarded to Paris-based studio Uchronia.

London design duo Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd won designer of the year for their practice Pearson Lloyd and Parisian Audrey Large was named emerging designer of the year.

These categories are sponsored by Bentley.

Read more about the Designers of the Year winners ›


Bonnie Hvillum

Bentley Lighthouse Award

Natural Material Studio founder Bonnie Hvillum has been named the first winner of the prestigious Bentley Lighthouse Award.

The inaugural award recognises designers who are curious and courageous in their approach, and whose work has had a beneficial impact on social and environmental sustainability, inclusivity or community empowerment.

“The whole oeuvre is impressive and beautiful and demonstrates the path that our industry needs to take towards bio-based research, creating greater material diversity whether by repurposing waste or growing new materials,” lauded the master jury.

This category is sponsored by Bentley.

Read more about the Bentley Lighthouse Award winner Bonnie Hvillum ›

Dezeen Awards 2023

Dezeen Awards celebrates the world’s best architecture, interiors and design. Now in its sixth year, it has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent.

Reference

Architecture for London creates demountable interior for stationery store
CategoriesInterior Design

Architecture for London creates demountable interior for stationery store

Local studio Architecture for London has designed an interior for stationery store Present & Correct in London,  which features gridded joinery and draws on “wunderkammer” cabinets of curiosities.

The studio designed bespoke joinery and storage for the Present & Correct shop in Bloomsbury, central London, which sells vintage and new stationery from across the globe.

Present & Correct by Architecture for London
The store interior was made from white-oiled wood

Architecture for London constructed a fully demountable interior for the store, which could be moved in the future if needed.

“Rather than building the joinery around the existing building, we treated each unit as a freestanding cabinet,” Architecture for London director Ben Ridley told Dezeen.

Stationery store in Bloomsbury
Trays showcase old and new stationery

“Aside from the kiosk, most of the joinery was constructed offsite, so we had to consider whether the cabinets fit through a standard door width and could it easily be carried,” he continued.

“In the long term the interior needs to adapt to multiple environments; the current shop has uneven floors, to accommodate this the cabinets have adjustable feet concealed within a recessed plinth, while slender legs appear to be bearing the weight.”

Grid-shaped interior of Present & Correct
Architecture for London developed a grid design for the interior

Present & Correct’s aesthetic is often built around an organised grid that holds different-shaped pieces of stationery, and the studio aimed to replicate this in the interior of the store.

“The shop joinery provides order through a grid which becomes progressively smaller as you enter the shop, providing scale to the eclectic collection of objects,” Ridley said.

Plywood shelves in Present & Correct
The store design references the nearby British Museum

It also drew on the idea of a wunderkammer, informed by the store’s location close to the British Museum, to display the goods as “objects of desire”.

“The wunderkammer is an environment which provides order to a collection of objects through compartmentalisation which could otherwise be observed as a chaotic mess,” Ridley explained.

“So it’s about how we display hundreds of tiny objects like pens, pencils and rubbers alongside toolboxes and trays in a considered and legible way.”

The aim was for the cabinets to be durable and as long-lasting as old museum vitrines. However, budgetary constraints meant that Architecture for London couldn’t use hardwood for the joinery.

Instead, it chose to work with maple plywood and ash.

“We created the appearance and durability of solid timber by applying a rule that all edges of the maple plywood are finished with 25-millimetre British ash, which can take the knocks from a busy shop floor,” Ridley said.

Wooden shelving in London stationery store
The furnishings are fully demountable

“The maple plywood grain is free from imperfections and has a calm grain, so we didn’t feel the need to use additional veneers,” he added.

“Although the joinery is built with an off-the-shelf material, by concealing the raw plywood edges the interior avoids the DIY aesthetic that can come with working with plywood.”

Close-up of plywood shelves
A neutral colour palette was used throughout

It was important to Present & Correct that the interior would allow the products to shine, rather than compete with them.

This led Architecture for London to use a neutral colour palette and a grid layout that lets the materials speak for themselves, rather than more eye-catching designs.

“At the concept stage, we produced designs which incorporated more playful elements such as large columns shaped like pencils,” Ridley said.

“The shopkeeper understood their product well enough to know that there was enough humour in the stationery, so it didn’t need to be represented in the architecture.”

Other recent projects by Architecture for London include a light-filled extension to a Hackney home and an energy-saving home in north London designed for Ridley.

The photography is by Building Narratives.


Project credits:

Architect: Architecture for London
Interior designer: Architecture for London
Main contractor: AFL Build

Reference

Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival
CategoriesInterior Design

Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival

Digitally shrink-wrapped skin, armrests salvaged from parks and “frozen” resin featured in Prototype/In Process, an exhibition of seating presented by virtual magazine Chair of Virtue during London Design Festival.

Displayed under a railway arch at Borough Yards, Prototype/In Process was made up of 1:1 scale prototypes of chairs, as well as chairs that are still works in progress, by 12 London-based designers who are either established or emerging in their field.

Aluminium chair by Sara Afonso Sternberg
Prototype/In Process features a chair by Sara Afonso Sternberg

Sara Afonso Sternberg presented sculptural aluminium seating made of armrests salvaged from the middle of public benches in Camberwell. The armrests were originally created to make it difficult for homeless people to sleep or rest on the benches.

“These objects are given a new form and use, inviting the public to critically engage with control mechanisms such as hostile architecture that permeate the urban landscape,” said Afonso Sternberg.

"Frozen" resin seating in Chair of Virtue exhibition
Jesse Butterfield created a “frozen” resin piece

Another piece on display was by Jesse Butterfield. The designer used vacuum infusion, draping and papier-mâché to create a chair covered in resin that was intended to appear “frozen”.

Various methods of production were showcasedthroughout the show. Daniel Widrig used 3D printing to digitally shrink-wrap a rectangular chair with polylactic acid, a starch-based bioplastic.

3D-printed chair by Daniel Widrig
Daniel Widrig used 3D printing for his piece

The result is a grey-hued chair with an undulating form, which mirrors the shared style of previous blobby stools created by the designer.

“Its contours mimic the gentle curves and natural irregularities of body tissue, forming intricate folds and wrinkles,” explained Widrig.

Thomas Wheller also used aluminium by folding a single piece of the material to create his chair, while Louis Gibson experimented with “regular” construction stock materials by creating casts from disused pipes.

“I was interested in imagining how these parts could be used unconventionally,” said the designer.

Folded aluminium chair by Thomas Wheller
Thomas Wheller also worked with aluminium

“With such large volumes, I was curious to create casts, and then evaluate the internal forms in a new light, and finally address the problem of reassembly,” added Gibson.

“I chose plaster for the purpose of quick setting, I also felt it was in keeping with the world of builders’ merchants stock supplies.”

Chair by Louis Gibson
Louis Gibson experimented with salvaged construction materials

While the exhibition concluded at the end of London Design Festival (LDF), Chair of Virtue is an ongoing project curated by Adam Maryniak.

Prototype/In Process was on display on Dirty Lane as part of the annual festival’s Bankside Design District.

Furniture created from the remains of a single car and a modular display system by Zaha Hadid Design were among the many other projects featured during LDF.

The photography is courtesy of Chair of Virtue

Prototype/In Process was on show as part of London Design Festival 2023 from 16 to 24 September 2023. See our London Design Festival 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.



Reference

Hydro celebrates sustainable partnerships at London Design Festival
CategoriesSustainable News

Hydro celebrates sustainable partnerships at London Design Festival

Promotion: aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro is exhibiting its collaboration with designer Lars Beller Fjetland at the London Design Festival, exploring how partnerships can help make the metals industry more sustainable.

Earlier this year Hydro and Fjetland partnered to launch Bello! bench, a piece of outdoor seating made from extruded aluminium with 90 per cent recycled content.

Hydro is now exhibiting the bench at Material Matters at Oxo Tower, in a display that aims to communicate how the project advances the company’s ambition to decarbonise society.

Photo of a green Bello! bench by Hydro and Lars Beller Fjetland camouflaged within a dense field of clover
The Bello! bench is the latest designer collaboration from Hydro

“Material and manufacturing literacy are key to creating truly sustainable products”, says Hydro’s marketing director, Asle Forsbak, noting an estimate that 80 per cent of a product’s environmental footprint is determined in the design phase.

The company aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and push the whole industry towards those goals as well.

This approach has guided the company into partnerships with designers and producers including Tom Dixon, Polestar, Porsche and Cake as it seeks to share knowledge about how to design with aluminium.

Bello! bench by Hydro and Lars Beller Fjetland
The collaboration explores how partnerships can help make the metals industry more sustainable

“As a designer the choices you make at the drawing board decide if the product can be taken apart and recycled again and again, which is why understanding material properties and manufacturing processes is key,” said Forsbak.

According to Forsbak, a deep understanding of engineering, material science and the realities of production all shaped the Bello! bench.

It is made from 90 per cent recycled aluminium, most of which is end-consumer scrap and can be recycled in its entirety.

Photo of a green extruded metal bench sitting within a forest of dence foliage
The bench is made from extruded aluminium with 90 per cent recycled content

Fjetland based his design on penne rigate pasta, luxuriating in the ridged surface texture that could be created through extrusion.

As part of the exhibition, Fjetland is releasing Bello! in a new colour, a “striking, naturalesque green”, and says the design is “a practical example of how we are stronger when we work together”.

“At face value, Hydro might seem like an unlikely exhibitor at the London Design Festival,” said Forsbak. “But with the Bello! bench, we want to demonstrate how the industry and designers can work together to produce a practical and pretty product that can be mass produced, and also meet the society’s growing sustainability demands.”

Close-up photo of the side profile of the Bello! aluminium outdoor bench by Hydro in a green colour, sat within a dense bright green forest
The collaboration advances Hydro’s sustainability goals, according to the company

“At one hand, industrial mass production comes with a slew of challenges regarding environmental sustainability,” said Forsbak. “On the other hand, there needs to be a market pull for companies to produce sustainably.”

Forsbak explains that for “real, impactful change” it is necessary to have an amalgamation of perspectives, expertise and industries when designing products.

“The sustainability challenge of mass production isn’t solved in a vacuum; We need to work closely with our partners to help decarbonise society,” he said. “That is why collaboration is key.”

The Bello! bench can be seen at Hydro’s display at the Material Matters exhibition. The company’s stand will be made from reused structural components from past exhibitions.

To learn more about aluminium and design, visit Hydro’s aluminium knowledge hub, Shapes.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Hydro as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

Reference

Last chance to be listed on Dezeen’s digital guide for London Design Festival 2023
CategoriesInterior Design

Last chance to be listed on Dezeen’s digital guide for London Design Festival 2023

This is the last opportunity to be featured in the Dezeen Events Guide for London Design Festival 2023, which highlights the key events taking place in the UK’s capital city in September.

The guide includes a range of exhibitions, installations, talks, workshops, open showrooms, product launches, pop-up shops and design fairs taking place across London.

This year’s edition of London Design Festival takes place from 16 to 24 September 2023, with the 21st edition spanning across 13 districts in the city.

Dezeen Events Guide’s live digital guide showcases events that explore a variety of design mediums, including architecture, biodesign, furniture, lighting, interior accessories, fashion and materials and textiles design.

Last chance to get listed in Dezeen’s digital guide to London Design Festival

Get in touch with the Dezeen Events Guide team at [email protected] to book in your listing or to discuss a wider partnership with Dezeen. There are three types of listings:

Standard listing: for only £100, we can include the event name, date and location details plus a website link. These listings will also feature up to 50 words of text about the event. Standard listings are included at the discretion of the Dezeen Events Guide team.

Enhanced listing: for £150, you will receive all of the above plus an image at the top of the listing’s page and an image in the listing preview on the London Design Festival festival guide page. These listings will also feature up to 100 words of text about the event.

Featured listing: for £300, your listing will feature everything as part of an enhanced listing plus inclusion in the featured events carousel and social media posts on our @dezeenguide channels. This includes one post per channel: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and up to 150 words of text about the event. This text can include commercial information such as ticket prices and offers, and can feature additional links to website pages such as ticket sales, newsletter signups etc.

About Dezeen Events Guide

Dezeen Events Guide is our guide to the best architecture and design events taking place across the world each year. The guide is updated weekly and includes virtual events, conferences, trade fairs, major exhibitions and design weeks.

Inclusion in the guide is free for basic listings, with events selected at Dezeen’s discretion. Organisers can get standard, enhanced or featured listings for their events, including images, additional text and links, by paying a modest fee.

In addition, events can ensure inclusion by partnering with Dezeen. For more details on inclusion in Dezeen Events Guide and media partnerships with Dezeen, email [email protected].

The illustration is by Justyna Green.

Reference

Mid-century Zero House in London imbued with “Kubrick feel”
CategoriesInterior Design

Mid-century Zero House in London imbued with “Kubrick feel”

Timber ceilings and a fireplace clad in mahogany tiles feature in this London house, which its owners have renovated to honour the dwelling’s mid-century roots and nod to the colour palette of Stanley Kubrick films.

Located in north London’s Stanmore, Zero House belongs to recording artists Ben Garrett and Rae Morris, whose former home in Primrose Hill is the Dezeen Award-winning Canyon House designed by Studio Hagen Hall.

Zero House in Stanmore, London
Zero House in Stanmore was built between 1959 and 1961

Unlike their previous dwelling, Garrett and Morris updated Zero House themselves but adopted the same mid-century palette when creating its interiors.

“The house was built between 1959 and 1961 by a Hungarian architect,” said Garrett, who explained that the original design was informed by Californian Case Study Houses such as Charles and Ray Eames’s 1949 home and design studio.

Brick and timber details within mid-century renovation
The two-storey dwelling was renovated by its owners

“It’s a great example of a number of imaginative mid-century domestic houses dotted around metro-land,” he told Dezeen. “Our main aim was to freshen it up relatively in keeping with the time but not to feel like we were living in a total time capsule.”

The pair maintained the matchbox timber ceilings that run throughout the two-storey home, which were stained with a dark reddish tone alongside stained wooden doors.

Floor-to-ceiling tiled fireplace in Zero House
Slim mahogany tiles clad the floor-to-ceiling fireplace

Slim mahogany tiles clad the floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the living room, which features the same micro-cement flooring found at Canyon House and opens out onto a lush garden.

Garrett and Morris also maintained the home’s many exposed brick walls and inserted geometric timber shelving that displays eclectic ornaments including amorphous vases and a colourful set of nesting dolls.

Timber-clad kitchen
The kitchen was panelled in light-hued timber

Reeded 1970s-style glass was used to form various windows including a rectilinear opening in the kitchen that illuminates minimal timber cabinetry topped with grainy surfaces.

The pair transferred the tubular Marcel Breuer chairs and Tulip dining table by Eero Saarinen from their former home, as well as the same “heinous digital artwork” that decorated their previous living space.

Dark brown bedroom interiors in Zero House
Darker tones create a “horror film” feel upstairs

Upstairs, a moody mahogany carpet darkens the main bedroom, which features the same timber wall and ceiling panels as the communal areas.

“There’s a lot of dark reds and browns in the house,” said Garrett.

“We leaned into the horror film slash Kubrick feel of the upstairs and made a few more austere choices this time,” he added, referencing the late filmmaker, whose credits include the 1980 supernatural horror movie The Shining.

Coffee-hued cork was chosen to clad the exterior of the bathtub and the surrounding walls while another walk-in shower interrupts the dark wooden theme with bright orange tiles and deep white basins.

Zero House also holds a timber-panelled recording studio, which is located in a separate low-slung volume at the end of the garden and can be reached via a few stepping stones.

Bright orange walk-in shower
Bright orange tiles were chosen for a walk-in shower

Garrett and Morris left the structure of the property largely untouched. Instead, the duo chose to focus on dressing its mid-century interior.

“We didn’t have to be clever with this house as the space is abundant and the flow and design were incredibly well thought out in the early 60s,” he said. “So it was more of a cosmetic thing.”

Recording studio in Zero House
There is a standalone recording studio in a shed at the back of the garden

Other recent mid-century renovation projects saw Design Theory update a coastal home in Perth from the 1960s while Woods + Dangaran added a koi pond among other elements to a Los Angeles dwelling built by architect Craig Ellwood during the same decade.

The photography is by Mariell Lind Hansen.

Reference

25 Best Architecture Firms in London
CategoriesArchitecture

25 Best Architecture Firms in London

London is a city that has been forced to redevelop constantly. Like many cities, it has accrued layers of history. However, events like the Great Fire and The Blitz have also torn holes in the urban fabric, necessitating moments of reflection and rethinking. Nowadays, Georgian, Regency and Victorian architecture are intermingled with hulking Brutalist structures and curving glass façades. From John Nash’s influential residential and urban plans to Alison and Peter Smithson’s radical housing proposals to the anonymous steel giants of Canary Wharf, the city has always been at the forefront of the latest city design trends.

Nowadays, the city remains home to preeminent architectural schools such as UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture. In addition, London’s galleries and museums nurture a design culture with thought-provoking exhibitions about space and society, including the ever-popular Serpentine Pavilion. Meanwhile, as a global metropolis, the British city’s diversity is one of its great strengths. So it’s no wonder that the city is home to a bevy of heavyweight firms and up-and-coming studios whose names are known locally and abroad.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in London based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

  • The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
  • The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
  • The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
  • The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
  • The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of London architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 24 best architecture firms in London:


25. Buckley Gray Yeoman

© Dirk Lindner

© Dirk Lindner

Formed in 1997, Buckley Gray Yeoman is an award-winning architecture and design practice based in Shoreditch, London. Directed by Matt Yeoman and Paul White, the firm provides pragmatic and deliverable solutions to complex design issues. Founded on the premise that outstanding results require careful planning and an intuitive approach, Buckley Gray Yeoman’s designs adapt and respond to the context of each project to create intelligent and enduring architecture.
The practice’s work is driven by the needs and ambitions of its clients.

Some of Buckley Gray Yeoman’s most prominent projects include:

  • Henry Wood House, London, United Kingdom
  • Channing School, London, United Kingdom
  • The Buckley Building, London, United Kingdom
  • C-Space, London, United Kingdom
  • Fashion Street, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Buckley Gray Yeoman achieve 25th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects2
Total Projects8

24. Jamie Fobert Architects

© Jamie Fobert Architects

© Jamie Fobert Architects

Since its inception in 1996, Jamie Fobert Architects has had a reputation for innovative and inspiring architectural design in the residential, retail and arts sectors. The practice has demonstrated a consistent approach to resolving client ambitions and site complexities into a tactile architecture of volume, material and light.

Jamie Fobert Architects has garnered several awards, including the RIBA London Award 2014, the Manser Medal and the RIBA and English Heritage ‘Award for a building in an historic context’. The practice has won three major public commissions for cultural organisations: Kettle’s Yard Gallery; the Charleston Trust; and Tate St Ives.

Some of Jamie Fobert Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Jamie Fobert Architects achieve 24th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects2
Total Projects8

23. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

© Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

© Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) is an award-winning, international architectural practice based in London. Over three decades, RSHP has attracted critical acclaim with innovative projects across Europe, North America and Asia. The practice is experienced in designing a wide range of building types including: office, residential, transport, education, culture, leisure, retail, civic and healthcare. The quality of its designs has been recognised with some of architecture’s highest awards, including two RIBA Stirling Prizes, one in 2006 for Terminal 4, Madrid Barajas Airport and the other in 2009 for Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre, London. RSHP employs around 180 people in offices across the world – London, Shanghai, Sydney and Madrid.

Some of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’s most prominent projects include:

  • Jean Prouvé 6×6 Demountable House, 1944, Adaptation 2015, Paris, France
  • One Park Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
  • International Towers Sydney, Barangaroo, Australia
  • Conservation and Storage Facility, Musée du Louvre, Liévin, France
  • Oslo Airport Competition, Oslo, Norway

The following statistics helped Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners achieve 23rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects2
Total Projects15

22. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

© Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

© Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

At Allford Hall Monaghan Morris we make buildings that are satisfying to use and beautiful to look at; an architecture that is defined by the experience of users who should be able to understand and use each building with ease and enjoyment. We design very different buildings, for very different people to use in very different ways and, since our early days in the late 1980s, we have grown from four to over one hundred and fifty people and our budgets from a few thousand to tens of millions of pounds. Through our wide range of projects we search for the opportunities in every site, budget and programme and pursue a pragmatic, analytical and collaborative working method to produce a responsive, intelligent and delightful architecture.

Some of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Allford Hall Monaghan Morris achieve 22nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects4
Total Projects16

21. David Chipperfield Architects

© David Chipperfield Architects

© David Chipperfield Architects

David Chipperfield Architects was founded in 1985 and has offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai. The practice works internationally on cultural, residential and commercial projects providing full architectural and interior design, master planning, product and furniture design services for both public and private sectors. Our diverse built portfolio includes museums and galleries, libraries, apartments, private houses, hotels, offices, master plans and retail facilities. David Chipperfield Architects has won more then fifty national and international competitions and many international awards and citations for design excellence.

Some of David Chipperfield Architects’s most prominent projects include:

  • The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, United Kingdom
  • Cafe Royal, Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre, London, United Kingdom
  • Villa Eden, Italy
  • James Simon Gallery, Berlin, Germany
  • Nobel Center, Stockholm, Sweden

The following statistics helped David Chipperfield Architects achieve 21st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

Featured Projects5
Total Projects8

20. Eldridge London

© Lyndon Douglas

© Lyndon Douglas

London architectural practice Eldridge Smerin was established in 1998 and has since relaunched as Eldridge London. Architect Nick Eldridge’s vision continues to inspire the design and material quality of the practice’s recent projects in the UK and abroad defined by a series of cutting-edge houses including the Stirling Prize nominated Lawns project and the House in Highgate Cemetery. The practice has also completed a number of high profile retail, commercial and cultural projects including interiors for Selfridges Birmingham, Villa Moda Kuwait, O2’s Mobile Applications Development Centre, the Design Council Headquarters, The Business and Intellectual Property Centre and a restaurant at the British Library and the Globe Theatre’s Sackler Studios. The practice demonstrates a consistent approach to producing intelligent and unique solutions to specific client briefs and often constrained budgets with an unerring attention to detail from concept through to completion.

Some of Eldridge London’s most prominent projects include:

  • Cor-Ten House in Putney, London, United Kingdom
  • House in Coombe Park, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
  • House in Epsom, Epsom, United Kingdom
  • House in Chelsea, London, United Kingdom
  • House in Highgate Cemetery, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Eldridge London achieve 20th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist1
Featured Projects5
Total Projects6

19. FORM studio (previously FORM design architecture)

© FORM studio (previously FORM design architecture)

© FORM studio (previously FORM design architecture)

Architecture has the power to transform environments and quality of life. FORM studio aims to create places that can be inhabited and experienced by people in a natural and instinctive way. Enjoyable places with a tranquil sense of simplicity, which create a supportive and uplifting backdrop for life.

Individual solutions are developed for our clients which are an intelligent, inventive and sustainable response to the complex matrix of issues that shapes each project. Solutions with a lucidity and apparent simplicity which belie their underlying complexity. Listening, analysis, discussion and clarification are at the heart of an inclusive approach that recognizes the fact that some of the best ideas are generated in the space between people rather than by individuals.

Some of FORM studio (previously FORM design architecture)’s most prominent projects include:

  • Bermondsey Warehouse Loft, London, United Kingdom
  • Walcot Square mews, London, United Kingdom
  • Flatiron House, London, United Kingdom
  • Benbow Yard, London, United Kingdom
  • Narrow House, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped FORM studio (previously FORM design architecture) achieve 19th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
A+Awards Finalist1
Featured Projects4
Total Projects7

18. Studio Octopi

© Studio Octopi

© Studio Octopi

Studio Octopi is an award winning architecture practice based in central London and working across all sectors including private residential, arts, education, commercial fit-out and public swimming pools. The practice has completed numerous complex refurbishments including, Bradfield College’s 1,000 seat outdoor theatre and the expansion of the Delfina Foundation, London’s largest artist residency. In 2019 we completed a multi award winning contemporary art installation in collaboration with Turner Prize Mark Wallinger for the National Trust. We’ve also designed the offices of leading advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and MullenLowe Group ranging in size from 5,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet.

In 2015/2016 Studio Octopi raised over £200,000 on two crowdfunding campaigns for public swimming pools in London. Thames Baths C.I.C. (www.thamesbaths.com) is a self-initiated campaign to design and build a floating lido in Central London. Founded in 2013, the project has attracted global interest since raising £142,000 on Kickstarter. In 2016 Studio Octopi helped the community of Peckham, south east London to raise £60,000 via Spacehive to launch a campaign to rebuild the Peckham Lido. Studio Octopi undertakes private residential refurbishment and new build homes. In 2012 the practice completed a new house in Wiltshire to Code 4 on the Code for Sustainable Homes and in 2021 construction will commence on two new homes for Baobab Developments in Brighton.

Some of Studio Octopi’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Studio Octopi achieve 18th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

Featured Projects5
Total Projects11

17. 6a architects

© 6a architects

© 6a architects

6a architects was founded by Tom Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald in 2001. They are best known for their contemporary art galleries, educational buildings, artists’ studios and residential projects, often in sensitive historic environments. 6a architects rose to prominence with the completion of two critically acclaimed public art galleries, Raven Row (2009), which won a RIBA Award in 2011 and the expanded South London Gallery (2010). Recently completed projects include a new 68-room hall of residence at Churchill College, Cambridge (2016), which garnered a RIBA Regional East Award (2017), and a new studio complex for photographer Juergen Teller (2016), which was winner of both RIBA London Building of the Year (2017) and a RIBA National Award (2017).

Some of 6a architects’s most prominent projects include:

  • Tree House , London, United Kingdom
  • Façade for Paul Smith, London, United Kingdom
  • V&A Gallery 40, London, United Kingdom
  • Photography Studio for Juergen Teller, United Kingdom
  • Cowan Court, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped 6a architects achieve 17th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects5
Total Projects6

16. Levitt Bernstein

© Tom Biddle

© Tom Biddle

As architects, landscape architects and urban designers, Levitt Bernstein creates award winning buildings, living landscapes and thriving urban spaces, using inventive design to solve real life challenges. Putting people at the heart of our work, each of our projects is different but the driving force behind every one is the desire to create an environment that is beautiful, sustainable and functional.

Some of Levitt Bernstein’s most prominent projects include:

  • Vaudeville Court, London, United Kingdom
  • Sutherland Road, London, United Kingdom
  • King’s School, Bruton, Somerset, United Kingdom
  • The Courtyards, Dovedale Avenue, Lancashire, United Kingdom
  • Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France

The following statistics helped Levitt Bernstein achieve 16th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

Featured Projects6
Total Projects10

15. John McAslan + Partners

© Hufton+Crow Photography

© Hufton+Crow Photography

We create architecture that improves people’s lives. We do it like this: We aim for an architecture which is rational and poetic, robust and delightful; we tread carefully and build with conviction; we tackle problems head on and think laterally; we deconstruct a brief and let a design emerge from close examination of the pieces; we don’t necessarily take ‘no’ for an answer; we believe the power of architecture extends much further than the dimensions of individual buildings; we believe architecture is about making life better. We believe that buildings should be underpinned by a powerful idea; that the idea should be an intelligent and logical response to functionality and a sense of place; and the power of that idea should be embedded in the built form.

Some of John McAslan + Partners’s most prominent projects include:

  • UK Holocaust Memorial
  • Void Practice Rooms, London, United Kingdom
  • King’s Cross Station, London, United Kingdom
  • Library + Student Hub, Ambleside Campus, University of Cumbria, Cumbria, United Kingdom
  • Lancaster University Engineering Building, England, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped John McAslan + Partners achieve 15th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist1
Featured Projects6
Total Projects13

14. Hawkins\Brown

© Gareth Gardner

© Gareth Gardner

The first time someone decided to mix sweet and salty popcorn, their guests must have been horrified. Minutes later though they would be guzzling the lot. That’s the thing about new combinations – you have to be a bit odd to consider them in the first place, but when they pay off you’re left wondering how you managed before they existed. Admittedly, this isn’t a usual sort of About page for an architectural practice, but we’re not a usual sort of practice. We believe that projects come alive through uncommon combinations of ideas and people. In fact, we think that’s the only way they really come alive at all.

Some of Hawkins\Brown’s most prominent projects include:

  • 1235 Vine Street, Los Angeles, California
  • Corby Cube, Corby, United Kingdom
  • Student Village, Royal Veterinary College, Brookmans Park, United Kingdom
  • Beecroft Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
  • Park Hill, Sheffield, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped HawkinsBrown achieve 14th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
Featured Projects7
Total Projects19

13. Bennetts Associates

© Bennetts Associates

© Bennetts Associates

Bennetts Associates creates sustainable and enduring architecture. As one of the UK’s leading practices, their diverse portfolio has been celebrated with more than 150 awards over 30 years and covers education, cultural and workplace projects in both the public and private sector, ranging from masterplans to small historic buildings. They are an employee-owned trust of 70 people with studios in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, and have recently earned Building Design’s Higher Education Architect of the Year 2019 Award. Bennetts Associates also leads in their field in sustainability – in April 2019 they became the world’s first architects to secure Science Based Target approval and commit to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now campaign.

Some of Bennetts Associates’s most prominent projects include:

  • The Royal College of Pathologists, London, United Kingdom
  • Storyhouse, London, United Kingdom
  • Jaguar Land Rover Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, United Kingdom
  • Bennetts Associates’ London Studio, London, United Kingdom
  • London Fruit and Wool Exchange, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Bennetts Associates achieve 13th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects4
Total Projects18

12. Alison Brooks Architects Ltd

© Paul Riddle Photographer Limited

© Paul Riddle Photographer Limited

Founded in 1996, Alison Brooks Architects has developed an international reputation for delivering design excellence and innovation in projects ranging from urban regeneration, masterplanning, public buildings for the arts, higher education and housing. ABA’s award-winning architecture is born from our intensive research into the cultural, social and environmental contexts of each project. Our approach enables us to develop pioneering solutions for our buildings and urban schemes, each with a distinct identity and authenticity. Combined with rigorous attention to detail, ABA’s buildings have proved to satisfy our client’s expectations and positively impact the urban realm. Our approach has led ABA to be recognized with both national and international awards including Architect of the Year Award 2012 and Housing Architect of the Year 2012.

Some of Alison Brooks Architects Ltd’s most prominent projects include:

  • The Smile, London, United Kingdom
  • Lens House, London, United Kingdom
  • Newhall Be, Harlow, United Kingdom
  • Quayside, Toronto, Canada
  • Severn Place, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Alison Brooks Architects Ltd achieve 12th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner2
A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects5
Total Projects5

11. AL_A

© Hufton+Crow Photography

© Hufton+Crow Photography

Architecture studio AL_A was founded in 2009 by the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning architect Amanda Levete with directors Ho-Yin Ng, Alice Dietsch and Maximiliano Arrocet. Their designs are conceived not just as buildings, but as urban propositions. Spaces that promote reciprocity between nature and neighbourhood; projects that express the identity of an institution, reflect the ambitions of a place, and hold the dreams of a community. Recently completed projects include an undergraduate and outreach centre for Wadham College at the University of Oxford and a new centre for the cancer care charity Maggie’s within the grounds of University College Hospital in Southampton.

Some of AL_A’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped AL_A achieve 11th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
Featured Projects9
Total Projects11

10. Steyn Studio

© Steyn Studio

© Steyn Studio

Steyn Studio is a collaborative architecture practice. We believe that design has the power to solve problems, inspire, and improve lives and work hard everyday to realize this ambition. We always aim to do this honestly and with the freedom to creatively explore meaningful design solutions. Designs that make a real difference to the end-user and the client; culturally and commercially.

Some of Steyn Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped AL_A achieve 10th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner4
Featured Projects4
Total Projects4

9. Studio Seilern Architects

© Studio Seilern Architects

© Studio Seilern Architects

Studio Seilern Architects is a London based international creative practice established in 2006 by Christina Seilern with the intent of producing exceptional architecture that lasts, working across geographies, building sizes and typologies. Our diverse portfolio of built work spans the UK, Europe and Africa.

While we tackle a diversity of projects, it is our conscious decision to keep working on the smaller and larger scales both simultaneously and continuously: from new build to restoration works. Irrespective of size or context, each project we undertake informs another. The smaller scale keeps our pencils sharp on questions of intricate detailing and the unraveling of the human condition both on the living and working fronts.

Some of Studio Seilern Architects’s most prominent projects include:

  • Andermatt Concert Hall, Andermatt, Switzerland
  • El Gouna Plaza, Hurghada, Egypt
  • G.W.Annenberg Performing Arts Centre, Reading, United Kingdom
  • Boksto Skveras, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Kensington Residence, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Studio Seilern Architects achieve 9th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
A+Awards Finalist3
Featured Projects6
Total Projects9

8. bureau de change

© bureau de change

© bureau de change

Bureau de Change is an award winning architecture practice founded by architects Katerina Dionysopoulou and Billy Mavropoulos. Its work is a direct product of the founders’ upbringing, passions and experiences — combining the pragmatism and formality of their architectural training with a desire to bring a sense of theatre, playfulness and innovation to the design of spaces, products and environments. The result is a studio where rigorous thinking and analysis are brought to life through prototyping, testing and making.

Some of bureau de change’s most prominent projects include:

  • The Interlock, London, United Kingdom
  • Homemade, London, United Kingdom
  • Folds House, London, United Kingdom
  • Slab House, London, United Kingdom
  • Step House, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped bureau de change achieve 8th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
Featured Projects9
Total Projects16

7. Hopkins Architects

Copyright 2004 Richard Davies

Copyright 2004 Richard Davies

Hopkins Architects is an international architectural practice with studios in London and Dubai. Led by its five Principals, the practice’s work is rooted in clear and logical design thinking, a deep understanding of the potential of materials and craft, and consideration of context. A consistent and rigorous approach has resulted in a portfolio of ground-breaking, beautiful and functional buildings across Europe, the US and Asia which have added tangible value for both clients and users. The practice has designed and delivered a portfolio of renowned, award-winning projects, including Portcullis House at Westminster and the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome.

Some of Hopkins Architects’s most prominent projects include:

  • Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, Colby College, Waterville, Maine
  • Buhais Geology Park Interpretive Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • Eton Sports & Aquatics Centre, Windsor, United Kingdom
  • Khor Kalba Turtle and Wildlife Sanctuary, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • London 2012 Olympic Velodrome, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Hopkins Architects achieve 7th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner1
A+Awards Finalist1
Featured Projects11
Total Projects18

6. Haworth Tompkins

Photo: Philip Vile - © Haworth Tompkins

Photo: Philip Vile – © Haworth Tompkins

Haworth Tompkins is an award-winning British architectural studio united by a commitment to integrity, intellectual quality and the art of making beautiful buildings. Founded in 1991 by Graham Haworth and Steve Tompkins, the rapidly-growing London-based studio consists of 70 people, and specializes in bespoke buildings in the public, cultural, private and financial sectors.

Acclaimed projects include the Everyman Theatre, winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2014, Young Vic Theatre, Royal College of Art campus in Battersea, Coin Street housing development and the London Library, for which they received the prestigious American Institute of Architect’s Excellence in Design award. The studio is currently working on a number of highly anticipated schemes including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Fish Island Village, Bristol Old Vic and Kingston University.

Some of Haworth Tompkins’s most prominent projects include:

  • National Theatre ‘The Shed’, London, United Kingdom
  • Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, United Kingdom
  • Dovecote Studio, Snape, United Kingdom
  • Open Air Theatre, London, United Kingdom
  • Park View School, Birmingham, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Haworth Tompkins achieve 6th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects9
Total Projects10

5. Adjaye Associates

© Alan Karchmer

© Alan Karchmer

Adjaye Associates, founded in 2000, comprises a multicultural global team. The practice has studios in Accra, London, and New York with work spanning the globe. Adjaye Associates’ most well-known commission to date, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), opened in 2016 on the National Mall in Washington DC. Further projects range in scale from private houses, bespoke furniture collections, product design, exhibitions, and temporary pavilions to major arts centers, civic buildings and master plans.

Some of Adjaye Associates’s most prominent projects include:

  • Winter Park Library & Events Center, Winter Park, Florida
  • 130 William, New York, New York
  • Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Skolkovo, Russia
  • Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, Washington, DC
  • Silverlight, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Adjaye Associates achieve 5th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner3
Featured Projects13
Total Projects31

4. Squire and Partners

© Jack Hobhouse

© Jack Hobhouse

Squire & Partners is an architecture and design practice with experience spanning four decades, earning it an international reputation for architecture informed by the history and culture of where it is placed. Their award winning portfolio, for some of the world’s leading developers, includes masterplans, private and affordable residential, workspace, retail, education and public buildings.

In addition, the practice has a series of dedicated teams for model-making, computer generated imaging, illustration, graphics and an established interior design department, which has created a number of bespoke product ranges. Squire & Partners’ approach responds to the unique heritage and context of each site, considering established street patterns, scale and proportions, to create timeless architecture rooted in its location.

Some of Squire and Partners’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Squire and Partners achieve 4th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Finalist2
Featured Projects11
Total Projects48

3. Heatherwick Studio

© Heatherwick Studio

© Heatherwick Studio

Heatherwick Studio is a team of 180 problem solvers dedicated to making the physical world around us better for everyone. Based out of our combined workshop and design studio in Central London, we create buildings, spaces, master-plans, objects and infrastructure. Focusing on large scale projects in cities all over the world, we prioritize those with the greatest positive social impact.

Working as practical inventors with no signature style, our motivation is to design soulful and interesting places which embrace and celebrate the complexities of the real world. The approach driving everything is to lead from human experience rather than any fixed design dogma. The studio’s completed projects include a number of internationally celebrated buildings, including the award-winning Learning Hub at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and the UK Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Some of Heatherwick Studio’s most prominent projects include:

  • Coal Drops Yard, London, United Kingdom
  • Maggie’s Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
  • Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Hampshire, United Kingdom
  • 1000 Trees Phase 1, Shanghai, China
  • Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa

Top image: Coal Drops Yard by Heatherwick Studio, London, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped Heatherwick Studio achieve 3rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner11
A+Awards Finalist1
Featured Projects20
Total Projects13

2. Foster + Partners

© Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

© Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners is a global studio for sustainable architecture, engineering, urbanism and industrial design, founded by Norman Foster in 1967. Since then, he, and the team around him, have established an international practice with a worldwide reputation. With offices across the globe, we work as a single studio that is both ethnically and culturally diverse.

Some of Foster + Partners’s most prominent projects include:

  • Ombú, Madrid, Spain
  • Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar
  • The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • House of Wisdom, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • Apple Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

The following statistics helped Foster + Partners achieve 2nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner6
A+Awards Finalist8
Featured Projects42
Total Projects91

1. Zaha Hadid Architects

© Zaha Hadid Architects

© Zaha Hadid Architects

Internationally renowned architecture firm Zaha Hadid Architects works at all scales and in all sectors to create transformative cultural, corporate, residential and other spaces that work in synchronicity with their surroundings.

Some of Zaha Hadid Architects’s most prominent projects include:

  • Beijing Daxing International Airport, Beijing, China
  • KnitCandela, Ciudad de México, Mexico
  • Leeza SOHO, Beijing, China
  • Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • Striatus 3D Printed Bridge, Venice, Italy

The following statistics helped Zaha Hadid Architects achieve 1st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in London:

A+Awards Winner17
A+Awards Finalist11
Featured Projects62
Total Projects64

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

  • Project completed within the last 3 years
  • A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
  • Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
  • High quality, in focus photographs
  • At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
  • Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
  • Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

 


 

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

Reference

Whittaker Parsons crowns London mews house with “bolthole” extension
CategoriesInterior Design

Whittaker Parsons crowns London mews house with “bolthole” extension

Using a combination of copper, larch and structural insulated panels, architecture firm Whittaker Parsons has added an additional storey to a contemporary mews house in Stoke Newington to house a bedroom suite.

Originally built in 2005, the property belongs to a couple with two older children, who have lived here for the last decade.

Exterior of Larch Loft extension
Whittaker Parsons added an additional storey to a London mews house

The family asked Whittaker Parsons to provide more space with the addition of a loft, as well as to revamp the lower floors including the studio on the second floor, which was reconfigured to create a well-proportioned workspace complete with its own library.

Daylight floods the new third storey, bouncing off lime-plastered walls while carefully positioned windows provide views of tree canopies and across rear gardens from window seats and the bespoke bed.

“We set out to design a beautiful, healthy, serene retreat, in which the homeowners could immerse themselves in the beauty of natural materials, a bolthole in the middle of north London,” Whittaker Parsons told Dezeen.

Larch staircase leading up to Larch Loft extension in London
The extension is accessed via a larch-clad staircase

With efficiency and quality in mind, the studio used prefabricated structural insulated panels (SIPs) to construct the additional storey, with the aim of minimising waste and saving time.

“Compared to standard timber construction, it is simpler to control the quality of onsite workmanship and achieve a more robust, air-tight building envelope,” the team explained.

Larch Loft extension in London by Whittaker Parsons
Generous windows provide views of the surrounding area

Externally, the extension is set back from the street elevation and finished in materials that mirror the surrounding architecture, including black-stained timber cladding, brick slips and patinated copper to tie in with the copper facade on the second floor below.

Internally, the triangular arrangement of the larch beams was developed to work with the load path of the existing building and the irregular form of the loft.

“The intention was to make visible and celebrate the structural effort that went into creating this new space,” Whittaker Parsons explained.

Man sitting on window seat of London extension by Whittaker Parsons
Integrated window seats provide a place to rest

The practice created a tranquil master bedroom with a larch-clad and lime-rendered interior, bespoke larch bed frame and walk-in wardrobe made from low-formaldehyde furniture board.

As the unsealed lime plaster wall finish cures, the lime will absorb almost as much carbon as was emitted in its production, the studio claims.

“Lime render is a calming tactile material, characterful and soft,” said Whittaker Parsons. “It is a low-carbon alternative to gypsum plaster. It’s also a hygroscopic material, so it naturally moderates the moisture level in the bedroom.”

Used alongside the render, white oiled larch panelling spans the spaces between the exposed larch beams, improving acoustic absorption.

“Often in bedrooms, the ceiling is the most important yet neglected surface,” the studio said. “The larch adds a sense of warmth, calm, and character to the space, creating an articulated ceiling at the top of the house – almost a reward for climbing all those stairs.”

Custom larch bed by Whittaker Parsons
Whittaker Parsons also created a custom larch-wood bed for the interior

In the adjoining skylit shower room, fluted travertine tiles line the walls, enveloping the shower area and complementing the travertine floor tiles.

“The roof light to the shower oversails the fluted travertine tiles, creating the impression that one is showering outside under the sky,” said Whittaker Parsons.

The basin, splashback and vanity unit are formed from unsealed Calacatta Rosato marble, which according to the studio provides a lower-carbon alternative to fired tiles.

Marble bathroom in Larch Loft extension
The vanity in the adjoining bathroom is formed from Calacatta Rosato marble

Overall, Whittaker Parsons says the project is “exceptionally low-carbon”, with the bulk of its embodied emissions coming from the triple glazing, thermal insulation and a single steel beam used to create the opening for the staircase.

Founded by Matthew Whittaker and Camilla Parsons in 2015, Whittaker Parsons has completed a number of projects in the British capital including The Naked House, which was longlisted for sustainable interior of the year at the 2021 Dezeen Awards.

View from bathroom to bedroom in Larch Loft extension
The marble is paired with fluted travertine tiles

Other sustainably-minded extensions in London include Low Energy House in Muswell Hill, designed by local studio Architecture for London founder for its founder Ben Ridley.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

Reference

Timber and hempcrete form patchwork facade of London mews house
CategoriesArchitecture

Timber and hempcrete form patchwork facade of London mews house

Hempcrete walls and a patchwork facade characterise Hempcrete Mewshouse, a three-storey home that local studio Cathie Curran has added to a derelict site in east London.

Located in Forest Gate, the home was built around a gridded structure made from steel and timber and features a variety of natural materials, including oak, accoya, hempcrete and terracotta. It replaces a derelict single-storey garage on a small mews site.

“The single storey lock-up had been unused for some time, the structure was unsound and there was a huge pit in the makeshift floor slab for working on car engines,” studio founder Cathie Curran told Dezeen.

Front elevation of Hempcrete Mewshouse by Cathie Curran
Hempcrete walls and a patchwork facade characterise Hempcrete Mewshouse

Expressing the home’s structural grid, the street-facing facade is clad in a patchwork-like pattern of materials, including panels of dark accoya wood planks, which can be opened in places for ventilation.

In other places, hempcrete blocks are waterproofed with a lime render and covered in terracotta tiles, which have been placed in alternating directions.

“The facade is an expression of the steel and timber tartan grid hybrid structure,” explained Curran. “The brief required maximum adaptability and an unobstructed plan at ground level, so a steel frame was employed to delineate circulation and service areas and define the main spaces.”

Kitchen with hempcrete walls
The home features a variety of natural materials

To enclose the home from the rest of the mews, the studio built a series of screens around the site, creating a semi-private front courtyard bordered by dark grey gates and fences.

Accessed through an accoya door built into the grid of the facade, the home’s entrance hall features a ceiling and walls clad entirely in oiled oak, while a textural concrete floor draws on the industrial past of the site.

Stairwell with wooden walls
A full-height stairwell sits on one side of the entrance hall

A full-height stairwell to one side of the entrance hall stretches between all three floors of the home and is lit by a skylight. While the staircase is mainly made from oak, the base and two lowest steps are made from concrete, softening the transition between the stairs and the light concrete floor below.

“The oak offers a soothing, organic contrast to the hard mineral atmosphere of the lane,” said Curran. “The top-lit entrance space is mysterious, a decompression chamber to emphasise the transition from chaos to calm.”

Stairwell of Hempcrete Mewshouse by Cathie Curran
The stairwell is lit by a skylight

Beyond the lobby, open living spaces featuring oak joinery and furnishings have been arranged across the ground floor, punctuated by oak-clad columns.

With a wall of glazing set in oak frames and doors that open onto the back garden, the double-height space at the end of the kitchen showcases the hempcrete panels that enclose the upper levels of the home.

The top floors of Hempcrete Mewshouse comprise bedrooms and bathrooms along with a first-floor study which overlooks the kitchen and can be separated from the space below by shutters.

Finished with warm-toned joinery, the bathrooms feature walls and floors covered in terracotta tiles, as well as openable oak wall panels and full-height windows.

“Ancient materials such as lime plaster, oak, terracotta, marble, and pale ground concrete contrast with the industrial tone of the street, evoking a gentler time and place,” said Curran.

Interior of London home with exposed wood ceiling
The top floors of Hempcrete Mewshouse comprise bedrooms and bathrooms

When designing the home, London-based studio Cathie Curran arranged the rooms to allow for future separation of the home into two apartments, each with separate access from the street.

“The timber beams and joists can be redeployed to subdivide the house into a pair of apartments, likewise non-load-bearing timber stud hempcrete partitions can be easily removed,” said the studio.

“The structure will permit easy conversion into two separate units, each with independent street access, if desired. Multigenerational occupancy, co-living or social care provision, even commercial activity, could all be accommodated.”

Terracotta-tiled bathroom of Hempcrete Mewshouse by Cathie Curran
The bathrooms feature walls and floors covered in terracotta tiles

Elsewhere in London, Office S&M transformed an Edwardian home with bright colours and graphic shapes while Unknown Works used pink concrete walls to add a terraced landscape to a Victorian townhouse.

The photography is by Chris Daly.

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